The Big Book of One Shots
by Azia M. Gibson
Summary: I'm taking Prin Pardus' one shot challenge(:


Chapter One: Injured.

_Fine, if you win you get to take the kits back home and tell them we're going to kill every single one of your pathetic clanmates._

_But if I win, you watch the kits die, then you can join them to see if your StarClan is real._

_The rules are simple._

_You can't make a sound, not one word can leave your lips._

_I can't use my teeth, only my claws._

_You can't try to flee the fight, even if you lose._

_I can't kill you._

_Sound simple enough?_

The evening sky was a brilliant shade of scarlet, teased with tones of violet. Variations of both colors stained the large clouds, and the orange rays of the sun disappearing just completed the evening color scheme. It was a breath taking sight, most of the ShadowClan cats were enjoying the view, glad for something so beautiful after such a violent raid. But none of this meant anything to Ashpaw. The young gray she-cat lay curled in a tight ball in the back of the medicine cat den, her back to the entrance. It was near her fifth day in the den, but she was content there. Her torn ears were flattened against her head, her face hidden in her paws.

"Ashpaw?" the gray apprentice flinched at the sound of Dawnpool's voice, the small cream-colored medicine cat's pitying blue eyes infuriated Ashpaw. The gray she-cat curled up, all of her muscles tensing and her golden eyes squeezing shut.

"Leave me alone." the apprentice growled in a low tone, not relaxing even as the medicine cat retreated from the den to join the celebration. She didn't need to be pitied, she was a hero. DeathClan hadn't been able to attack the kits because she had agreed to fight their leader, the kits had lived and a patrol had found them in time to chase off the rogue patrol. If she hadn't stopped that patrol, Darkrose's kits would be _dead_, the clan wouldn't have been ready for the raid DeathClan had launched just two nights before if she hadn't fought that patrol. ShadowClan never would've know the anti-clan was targeting them next if she hadn't searched for, found, and defended those kits. She was supposed to be a hero, now even the kits she saved cowered from her.

Ashpaw had just gone to check on them, to make sure they were okay after she could manage to walk without such a heavy limp. She padded across the clearing, only to hear the cold, fearful whispers of her clanmates as they watched the she-cat make her way across the clearing. She tried to ignore them, not realizing they were about her until she entered the den. The three kits who she'd nearly died for shrank back when they saw her...

She trembled at the thought of the looks on their faces. They held nearly the same fear as when the DeathClan patrol attacked. Why? Why were they scared of the one who saved them? She heard a rustling and flinched as a familiar scent wafted towards her, Toadstep. Her older brother, the next in line for deputy when Stoneleap finally retired.

"You know, you can't hide in here forever." he said calmly, his voice as cool and collected as ever. She used to admire him, until he became Darkrose's mate. The she-cat only wanted him for his power in the clan, she just wanted the clan to respect her like they respected him, but she didn't love him. She flattened her torn ears once more.

"Says you." Ashpaw muttered with a hint of growl still in her voice. She didn't want the black and white tom to see her when she was so vulnerable, especially when it was his kits who caused all of it. Frogkit had talked Rosekit and Marshkit into exploring the woods while Darkrose slept, it was hours before they noticed them missing. Ashpaw searched harder than even Darkrose to find her brother's kits, as much as she hated their mother, they were kin.

Kin, the thought made her flinch. She remembered when she was little, Wolftail and Toadstep were apprentices then, but they protected her like a queen would her kit. The two toms, her older brothers, both had green eye like their mother, but Ashpaw's were golden. The only resemblance she bore to either of them was the fact that her pelt was gray. Wolftail's was gray, but much darker with jagged, lighter gray tabby markings. It had taken moons to prove she could take care of herself to her siblings, but only when Toadstep became a father did he relent. Wolftail continued to fuss over her, but she didn't mind as much. Dealing with an angry mentor and practically the loss of her other brother, she'd come to appreciate his company, appreciate the fact that she could confide in him, and then even he went away. A she-cat had taken his attention, leaving Ashpaw alone. Wolftail was often too busy with patrols, spending time with Poppynose as they waited for the kits to come, or simply spending time with the other warriors.

"Come on, Hollystar wants you outside." she heard the rustle as the tom left, but she never moved. The ash-colored apprentice lay as if she were made of stone, staring with tearful golden eyes at her paws."Now!"

Ashpaw flinched but slowly made her way to the entrance. She could see the cats milling about camp, but they couldn't see her, not yet. Her sanity screamed for her to go back to her nest and wait, wait until she was ready, but her loyalty to the code reminded her that her leader had ordered her. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the dark den. She kept her two torn ears flattened, lowered her head as her marred body became visible to her clanmates.

The apprentice's gray pelt was naturally high-lighted with silvers and lighter grays, though darker tones of gray and black speckled it as well, her mother said it reminded her of ashes and many had claimed it was quite beautiful...but now the smooth pelt was ridden with new but deep scars. There were three deep pink marks gouged into one cheek, just below her eye, another set going across the sides of her neck. Both her ears had been torn and there was a claw mark across one eye, the one without the marks in her cheek. There were marks where vicious claws had sunk deep into her shoulders and drug themselves back enough to rip open a gash. There were deeper gouges along her flanks and across her stomach. Her limbs hadn't been spared the mutilation either. Scars crisscrossed down her legs and the black she-cat had even ripped one of her claws out.

The DeathClan leader had made a spectacle out of the fight, spilling as much blood as she could without killing the poor apprentice. For the amusement of her rogue followers... DeathClan, not even really a clan. Blackheart and her followers had taken names like clan cats only to mock them, DeathClan was what they called their rogue band as another way of mocking the four clans. Blackheart was the so-called leader, with a cat named Bloodclaw as her 'deputy,' they had no medicine cat or elders or apprentices, just warriors. Ashpaw remembered when they first waltzed in the gathering, Blackheart raving about her mission to show the clan what a real clan was. Then the icy voice of the she-cat made her shudder.

_Come on, Twinkle Paws, stop dancing around and face me!_Blackheart had taunted her as she'd avoided the many claws of the patrol, all trying to get a swipe in on the apprentice. Even as the apprentice tried to fight the much larger cat, the other rogues had shoved her about, tripping her or simply knocking her off balance._Poor little kit, didn't that clan of yours teach you anything?_

She gritted her teeth at the sound of the black cat's smooth, icy voice. She could still see the she-cat's amber eyes, though in the shadows of the marsh, they looked red to Ashpaw. She clenched her teeth even harder, making the muscles along her jaw and the semi-fresh scars on her face scream with pain and in protest. She dealt with this enough in her dreams, she didn't need it right now. But still, Blackheart's voice echoed in her mind.

_Brave enough to challenge me, but not good enough to beat me._

_When will you stupid clan cats learn your place?_

_Don't die on me, Twinkle Paws, I want your clan to see what DeathClan can do._

_Can you still hear me, kit?_

_Or are you ignoring me on purpose?_

_Don't die yet, we're just getting started!_

_Maybe if I ate one of the kits, you'd put a little more effort into this fight._

The taunts still rang in her ears, the mental scars formed as she was practically tortured for the anti-clan's amusement still fresh in her mind. She avoided the horrified looks of her clanmates, ignored the presence of her brothers flanking her protectively as she walked forward, towards the large stone where Hollystar addressed the clan. She finally looked up to meet the cunning black she-cat's wary green gaze. There was no sympathy, no pity, no love, no fear, nothing in Hollystar's cold gaze. The apathy in her eyes was normal for the ShadowClan leader, Ashpaw knew that more than anyone.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath HighStone to hear my words." she yowled, waiting as the cats stepped forward but left a noticeable space around Ashpaw. Her brothers sat just behind her, glaring at the cats who were so obviously avoiding her. But Ashpaw paid no heed to Toadstep or Wolftail, nor to any of the gathered cats, she only had eyes to hold her leader's forest-colored gaze. "Today, we recognize the deed of one cat. She saved Toadstep's kits, endured unimaginable pain to bring them home safe. Ashpaw, please step forward."

There was an uncomfortable silence as the mottled she-cat stepped forward, eyes locked with Hollystar's. The golden gaze that held her leader's green one was filled with defiance and a fiery strength, the strength she'd mustered when she forced herself not to scream during her fight with Blackheart or when the wounds screamed in agony themselves when she first awoke. "Ashpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, to protect and provide for your clan at any and all costs?"

"I do." she said curtly, watching her leader's green eyes rake over her marred body. Ashpaw was finally becoming an warrior, something she'd always dreamed of, but at what cost? Her clan was terrified of her now, she could hardly sleep without nightmares, she couldn't eat, she hadn't stopped DeathClan, only postponed the attack for a few days. Now, here she stood, prepared to accept her duty simply so she could go back to mourning for herself in the medicine cat's den. As the ShadowClan leader hesitated, whispers and murmurs broke out around her.

"Then, from this moment on, you shall be known as Ashscar," there was a collective silence suddenly, she could feel anger radiating from Wolftail like heat. She narrowed her eyes and lowered her head as her leader finished, the clan broke into much louder chatter now, "May StarClan light your path-"

"You can't do that to her!" Wolftail cut her off with a snarl, stepping up beside Ashscar as his bushy tail lashed. Anger blazed in the tom's usually calm olive eyes. "She deserves a better name than that for what she did!"

"But look at her, it suits her." she heard a voice from somewhere behind her.

"I feel bad for her." another voice found it's way to her ears, a she-cat from the sound of it.

"She's a freak." she almost recognized it, it sounded like Ivypaw.

"Just look at her." that would be Pantherpaw, agreeing with her former denmate.

"ENOUGH!" Hollystar practically screeched, eyes blazing with rage. The cats immediately silenced, but Wolftail still glared indignantly at his leader, their green eyes both blazing. She glowered down at her clan, her lip curling slightly, she opened her mouth to speak, but Ashscar cut her off.

"The leader's word is law." she said quietly, not looking up from the ground as she squeezed her eyes shut. Ashscar took a deep breath, knowing the entire clan was watching her. She raised her head, though she kept her golden gaze lowered. Ashscar took another deep breath before she met her leader's bright green gaze with her own golden glare, saying just loud enough to be heard, "Thank you, mother."

- Author's Note: I'm taking Prin Pardus' one-shot challenge, I know I haven't really started writing on here but I've written fanfics without posting them, I found this site and read a couple people's versions of this challenge, I want to do it. So this is the first installment called 'Injured'. Ashscar is an O.C. I used to roleplay, and this was actually part of her story. She was tormented most of her life for those scars, by her clan and the other clans, she suffered not only physical, but mental injuries. It was sad, also a sad way to start this off. But, I liked it, I thought it fit the theme quite nicely. Onto the next one.

A. M. G. -


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